Like rising mist the night increases soon
Round shattered palaces, ere yet the moon

~A Dead City - Clark Ashton Smith~

~Zephyr~

I looked down from one of the taller buildings at the streets below. Thank Celestia that the dead couldn't fly. My trusty binoculars were a great help in situations such as these. The concentration of dead was unusually high today, almost as if they could sense something was on the way. But I knew better. Zombies were mindless creatures, save for some of the big ones, and those speedy little shits.

It didn't seem like anypony still alive was in danger today so I leaned back from the edge of the building and sat down by my equipment, checking over my inventory:

1X Electrified Short Sword (ESS)... Check!

1X Personal Shield Generator (PSG)... Check!

1X Basic Survival Kit... Check!

1X Binoculars... Check!

X Food... Check!

1X Canteen... Check!

With the Camouflaged Scout Armor equipped to my body, I was literally prepared for the Apocalypse. Good thing too, given what was happening below.

As I began to relax, a banging from nearby caught my attention. I was on the roof of the building, and somepony, or rather something was trying to get me. With a sigh, I gathered my things and prepared to take flight to the next vacant building. I walked past the roof access building, smiling as their next meal was just out of reach.

The next thing, I knew, the door burst open behind me and a couple of fast ones began running after me. The adrenaline flowing through me sent me bolting for the building's edge. I could outrun these ones easily, but I chose to keep them close enough to keep running after me. As I spread my wings and leapt off the building, a few of them fell over the edge to their permanent deaths, as was my intention. I circled the building a couple of times, confused by the sheer amount of zombies filing through the one little doorway to the roof.

"How do you bastards keep sneaking in?" I ask them, not expecting any form of answer. I'd checked the building earlier for any undead. It contained the odd zombie here and there, but not a horde. This wasn't the first time something like this had happened. I was meticulous about making sure no others could even get into the building, but somehow, they managed. I'd been searching around the buildings with my binoculars for any entrances I'd overlooked. Nothing.

I was nearing the edge of the city when I spotted something very interesting.

~Pinkie?~

Trottingham, the second biggest city in Equestria, short of Manehattan. I still wonder how I got here. I was still cautious around the others, believing them to be figments of my imagination. I wish I could believe them completely, but the only way for me to know for sure was for somepony to die. I'd always see the truth then, but I restrained myself. From what Twilight had told me, they'd nearly dealt with the death of Scootaloo were it not for Jaeger.

If anything, Jaeger was proof towards them being the real deal. After all, why would I imagine somepony I'd never met before? Then there was Trixie. I just didn't know anymore. All I could do was keep my guard up.

"Why are we even here? I've read enough zombie books to know that cities are like nesting grounds for these things. They'll be everywhere." I asked, staring out at the city below.

"Because Applejack said she'd be looking for Rarity's parents here, and that she had family here herself." Scootaloo said.

"Yeah, and then they were headed to Manehattan after that. If we're going to go into a large city, why not just skip to the biggest one?"

Jaeger was the one to answer this time. Even though I didn't believe he was real, there was something else about him that unnerved me. He spoke and acted like he didn't care about much, but the words suggested the exact opposite. "Because what if they didn't make it to Manehattan? What if they were still alive, but unable to escape the city because of the sheer numbers?" he asked me. I couldn't argue with that logic. "We'd wind up having to go through two cities anyway." he added.

I sighed and shrugged my approval. As we went on, I spotted something in the sky. "Looks like somepony's alive in there." I said, earning their attention once again. As I was about to point the pony out to them, they disappeared behind the buildings. "Pegasus... flying around over there." I pointed to where I saw the pony disappear.

"I'll fly over and check it out." Twilight said, spreading her wings.

"Take Rainbow with you. If they're hostile, you'll want speed on your side." Jaeger replied. And with that, both Twilight and Rainbow took to the skies, matching each others' speed.

~Zephyr~

Other ponies. There were other ponies! And they were coming here? How stupid could you get?! I landed on a building that could serve to hide me well from them. Taking out my binoculars, I scanned the area for them and found four ponies, a baby dragon, a dog and a zebra. They seemed ill equipped to handle anything, let alone a zombie infested city.

"Those fools are going to get themselves killed if they come here!" I growled to myself.

"Then perhaps it would best suit us to have a guide." a voice said from behind. In a flash, I'd reached for my bag and drawn my ESS, pointing it at my potential enemies. However, upon seeing who they were, I faltered. How could she be here?

"P-Princess... Twilight? H-how..."

Princess Twilight raised her hand to silence me and stepped forward. "I've been absent from this chaos for a while. What's your name?" she asked. My military training kicked in as I stood at attention and saluted at the Princess.

"Sgt. Zephyr Verve, Princess. Honorably discharged with rank intact. It's an honour to meet you, Princess. But I thought all the Princesses were defending Canterlot and the Crystal Empire." I said.

"As I said, Sargeant; I've been absent over the period of this chaos. My friend here is Rainbow Dash, the Element of Loyalty. We're on a mission to find the remaining Element bearers; Applejack, Fluttershy and Rarity. We know they're together, but they may be here in the city. Report." Twilight said, using her rank as Princess to siphon as much information out of me as possible. I was happy to tell her, of course.

"Princess, the city is lost. None but myself still live within the city. If the Element bearers are still in the city, it's highly likely that they are... no longer alive." I said, treading lightly with that last part. I could tell by her face that she didn't want to hear that. Princess Twilight was still new, and as such did not possess the poker face, Princess Celestia did.

"Rainbow, tell the others to wait outside the city while Zephyr and I go to the addresses AJ left us." the Princess commanded.

"Jaeger won't like that, Twi. I'll bet you anything he'll bring up what happened in Apple Loosa." Rainbow Dash said.

The Princess just chuckled. "Tell him to wait an hour, then come looking for me. We should be back before then."

"I'm sorry. We?" I asked.

"Of course. I'm hardly going to leave a pony behind in a city of zombies."

~Jaeger~

"Tell me about this Zephyr guy." I said, uncomfortable with the situation we'd found ourselves in.

"Pegasus, blue mane, tan coat, retired Royal guard... kinda dreamy. I don't know, he was alive. What do you want from me?" Rainbow asked, walking away. I gave her a deadpan look as I turned back towards the city, looking for any sign of Twilight or the other guy.

"Sounds like somepony's jealous." Rainbow teased, earning a giggle from Pinkie before she clamped up. I fought the urge to just up and leave them there. The fact was, I was worried, not jealous. What if this Zephyr was lying? It'd be fairly easy to steal military equipment from a dead guard.

"They've got forty-five minutes. It shouldn't take them more than a few minutes to fly between addresses." I said.

"Twilight said to wait for an hour." Rainbow said.

"And I'm saying no. If you want to wait longer, then stay here."

Rainbow came up beside me and bumped my arm. "You just don't want them being friendly with each other." she teased again. I turned to her and looked her in the eye. I said nothing and just stared at her. Out of my peripheral vision, I could see her ears splaying back and noticed her cringe away at my gaze. "Uh... I'm just gonna sit over there with Scootaloo." she said, escaping the stare as she scurried away. I looked back to the city, silently warning this Zephyr that if he did anything that did not seem right to him, he would pay.

~Zephyr~

I shivered as a feeling crept up on me. I didn't know what it was, but I felt like I was in danger. Princess Twilight noticed this and addressed the issue.

"Something wrong?" she asked.

"I'm fine, your highness. Just got a chill, is all." I said, hoping to reassure her. "If you're sure... Ah, there's the address." she said, pointing to a building. A very familiar building.

"Crap!" I said as I flew upward to the roof of the building. Sure enough, it was the same one I'd come from earlier. I returned to Princess Twilight who was flying just above anypony's ability to reach her from the ground. "The building's swarming with zombies, Princess. There's no way we can get in there." I said.

"Let's try the windows, then." she said, flying ahead. I sighed as I steeled myself and followed behind. The Princess somehow had found the window she was looking for and had opened it with ease, hovering through and landing gently on the ground. I followed suit, but despite my armour being light, I made a small sound. Whether it was enough to alert the zombies, I didn't know.

"We should keep the window open in case we need to make a quick escape." I whispered, to which she simply nodded. As the Princess began her search for her friends, which I highly doubted were in here, I snuck a peek through the door's peephole. A single zombie was drudging by. It stopped and turned towards me, staring through the peephole as well. I knew it wouldn't be able to see anything, but it was still unnerving.

As if that wasn't enough, the bastard started groaning and a second zombie appeared out of nowhere as the first one moved back. A third was waddling into view, each one stopping in front of the door. I'd have thought they knew we were in here, if it weren't for the fact that only the first one was looking towards me.

"Found it." Princess Twilight whispered. I nearly turned around, but experience had taught me not to turn my back on a zombie, even if it was behind a door. I didn't notice any difference in its behaviour, and I gently began to retreat. I turned around, almost knocking into the Princess. She didn't seem to notice and showed me the note.

Dear Twilight, Rainbow and Pinkie Pie,

If you're reading this then you've made it this far. A part of me hopes that you've given up on us, just so you won't try and come here. Zombies are everywhere, and what's worse, the monsters that caused all this don't even wait until night time here. The buildings shield them from the sun well enough that they don't mind anything short of noon. Luckily, Rarity's parents had come here to meet up with us. They say they figured we'd be coming to get family members, so they kept together. We're going to make our way to Manehattan next. At this rate, I can only hope that you've either given up, or that you actually make it out of here alive.

The stress is getting to us. Fluttershy won't stop crying and Rarity tries to stop her, but is just adding fuel to the fire. Little Strongheart is still mourning Braeburn's death, as are Applebloom and me. We're at our rope's end, girls. We might snap by the time we reach Manehattan. I hope to see you all again.

Love,

Applejack, Rarity, Fluttershy, Applebloom, Sweetie Belle, Little Strongheart and family.

I noticed the tear stains around the note. I felt for them, I really did. "We should get back." I said, earning a nod from Princess Twilight.

All of a sudden, the door to the hallway caved in and a swarm of zombies came in, all scrambling to get to us. Princess Twilight screamed and ran for the window. I was tempted to follow her, but I saw an opportunity. I drew my ESS and smiled, stabbing a zombie through the head. The electricity arced out and sent all the others into spasmodic fits. This would buy me enough time to fly out.

I'd spoken too soon. I'd overlooked one of the more important parts of Applejack's note. One of the nocturnal monsters stood behind the mass of flinching zombies and kicked them out of the way. The spray of growling and twitching corpses knocked me over and I scurried to run away. I dove through the window, but felt claws clip one of my wings. A surge of pain went through my body stemming from my ripped wing. I fell towards the ground, believing this to be my end.

But the end didn't come. I could still feel pain. I could still breathe. I could still feel wind through my mane and arms around my torso. I opened my eyes and looked up at my saviour.

"Princess Twilight?!" I gasped, stupefied. She'd caught me just in the nick of time.

"I've got you, Zephyr. Don't worry. We're going to be fine." she said, reassuring me. I'd heard that from a lot of ponies since the attack. I'd been in groups of survivors from the initial attack on the city, and the leaders had said the exact same thing. That we'd be alright. But Princess Twilight was the first one I believed.

"Thank you, Princess. I owe you my life." I said.

"In that case, how would you like to return to active duty? My friends and I could use somepony to protect us. In turn, we'll protect you too." she offered. I smiled and closed my eyes as I let her take me to what I assumed was the rest of her group.

"I'd like that very much." I said, smiling.

~Twilight~

"Well at least we know he's not a bandit pretending to be a guard." Jaeger said as I explained the situation to the others.

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked.

Jaeger held a much colder look than usual. I knew he wouldn't like me going off alone, especially after what had happened in Apple Loosa, but I wasn't expecting this. "I told you when we met, Twilight. The world you knew doesn't exist anymore. Love and tolerance have gone out the window and have been replaced by war and deceit. You can't be so trusting. There will come a time when we run across another pony and he'll spin a similar story, and it'll turn out to be a lie."

"That doesn't mean I should abandon somepony when they need me. If the world truly has been changed, then it's up to me to preserve what I can of it; through me, if need be." I said, defending myself.

"It serves no purpose. Suppose we actually manage to defeat the Shades. Even if you try to restore things to the way they were before, things will never be the same, because we've tempted fate and it's finally snapped us in the ass." he scolded.

"Don't speak to the Princess like that!" Zephyr came to my defence.

"You, shut up and sit down. You're not going to get any better if Zecora can't help you." Jaeger commanded. Despite him being the superior officer, or an officer in general, Zephyr obeyed. Zecora had gathered a few nearby herbs and mashed them together to form some sort of paste which she was rubbing onto the open wounds the Shade had left on Zephyr.

"Look, I'm sorry for making you worry. I didn't know about the Shades being awake during the day here. But I figured that it'd be better than all of us going and getting ourselves killed. If we'd all gone, not all of us would have made it out of that apartment alive." I said, trying to defuse the situation. Jaeger just sighed and pinched the bridge between his eyes.

"You're right, I know. It's just that... You're not used to this stuff yet. I am. It'd be a lot better for us if I went as well. I'd have been able to handle the Shade that clipped Zephyr's wing. I just worry about you." he said. I smiled at him and chuckled. Taking his hand, I pulled him closer to me and wrapped my arms around him.

"You're just a big softy, aren't you?" I asked.

He just chuckled and leaned down to kiss me. I accepted it with gratitude. "Is that such a bad thing?" he asked.

~Trixie~

As I watched a heated argument turn into foreplay, I groaned inwardly and drew my attention to our new traveling partner. I sat down beside him as Zecora worked on his wing.

"So then, what's your story?" I asked. The one called Zephyr looked at me with interest painted on his face.

"What do you wanna know?" he asked in turn.

I thought about the question. "Why'd you stay in the city for so long? With zombies and Shades roaming the streets, it's not exactly paradise." I asked.

"The city's a big place. At first, I stayed to help others escape the death and destruction. Afterwards, I remained to help any stragglers that may have hidden, waiting for the heat to die down. Lately, I just remained behind out of sheer curiosity." he said.

That last part caught my attention most, as well as the attention of the others. "What do you mean?" Scootaloo asked.

"Well, the last two weeks, I've been camping out on building rooftops. After sealing off all entrances into the building, I killed off what was inside. But somehow, without even opening the doors, every building I've gone into has erupted with swarms of zombies coming seemingly from out of nowhere. I didn't know about the monsters, or Shades as you call them. I've only ever seen them at night. Applejack's message was news to me. It didn't even register to me until I saw the one that did this by the door. But that'd explain how the zombies are getting in." he replied.

"So would subterranean aqueduct entrances in the basements of every building in Trottingham." Jaeger replied. Zephyr stared at him for a moment, seemingly thinking that one over.

"Crap!" he said, realising that if that were the case, it wouldn't be such a mystery as to how the zombies got inside. "Well, there's two weeks well wasted." he sighed in resignation.

"I'm curious about your weapons. They're not standard issue equipment for the Royal Guard." Twilight said.

Zephyr drew his short sword and presented it to Twilight. The blade crackled with magical electricity. "The Royal Guard is divided into two factions. The interior guard and the Exterior." he began.

"The Interior guard span the major towns and cities of Equestria, while the Exterior handle the bordering towns and beyond. They're about as different as security guards and hardened military soldiers." Jaeger said. Zephyr nodded in confirmation.

"Right. The interior are the guards you're used to seeing. They usually roam the castle or the streets of Canterlot. Their real goal is to protect Princess Celestia as well as preserve the peace. The Exterior guard are more aggressive in nature. We represent the true might of the Equestrian people. You could say that the Interior act as a shield, while we of the exterior are the sword."

"Is this a PSG Mk. I?" Jaeger asked, holding a strange looking device out to Zephyr.

"Yes. When I was honorably discharged from service due to my PTSD, I was allowed to keep both my rank and my equipment from my last mission. Can I ask how you know as much as you do about the Exterior guard?" he replied.

"A friend of mine from before the fall of Equestria was an enthusiast. His dream was to be a Royal Guard. Some of his ravings stuck." Jaeger replied, pointing to his head. It wasn't like last time. Jaeger didn't speak with emotion. He was as cold and calculating as ever. I knew he was simply showing no weakness in front of our new friend. It seemed that to Jaeger, trust must be earned. He didn't even fully trust Zecora and it had been the better part of a week since she'd joined.

"Tell me more of this PTSD." Jaeger pressed. Zephyr froze, but took a moment to compose himself.

"My last mission had me and my team going after a rogue group of bandits. We had them cornered, but there were more than our intel had suggested. It was a battle of skill versus numbers. Neither side truly won. Only the bandit leader and myself survived. I'd lost my entire team that day, as well as my best friend. As a result, I began to freeze up during recovery training. To say my superiors noticed was an understatement; I was sent to a psychologist who diagnosed me with PTSD. I can overcome it, but I require somepony to give me a good slap. But the Superiors didn't want to take the chance with me, so I was honorably discharged, as I said before." he replied.

There was silence all around for a few moments before Jaeger spoke up again. "Well we won't hold your condition against you. I'll gladly give you a slap if needed." he said, grinning as he rose to his hooves, handing Zephyr the PSG.

"No doubt." Zephyr replied.

Author's Note

Big thanks to Zephyr who allowed me to use his OC.